Bambi: The Great Prince
by Trunks6
Summary: A story that chronicles the years that Bambi spent with his father, The Great Prince in the Forest.


Bambi: The Great Prince   
  
"Going Home" by Mary Fahl (Gods & Generals)  
  
They say there's a place where dreams have all gone   
  
They never said where but I think I know   
  
It's miles through the night just over the dawn   
  
on the road that will take me home...   
  
I know in my bones, I've been here before.   
  
The ground feels the same though the land's been torn...   
  
I've a long way to go, the stars tell me so   
  
on this road that will take me home...  
  
Love waits for me 'round the bend   
  
Leads me endlessly on...   
  
Surely sorrows shall find their end   
  
and all our troubles will be gone....   
  
And I'll know what I've lost and all that I've won   
  
when the road finally takes me home...   
  
And when I pass by don't lead me astray   
  
Don't try to stop me, don't stand in my way....   
  
I'm bound for the hills where cool waters flow   
  
on this road that will take me home...   
  
Love waits for me 'round the bend   
  
Leads me endlessly on, surely sorrows shall find their end   
  
And all our troubles will be gone   
  
And I'll know what I've lost and all that I've won   
  
when the road finally takes me home....   
  
I'm going home, I'm going home, I'm going home   
  
The sun rose over the tall trees of the forest.   
  
The ground was covered with snow and the tree tops glistened with the white gowns the winter had brought.   
  
Beneath the trees, some animals such as Flower kept sleeping. Others such as Thumper were scavenging for whatever food they could find. And others still wandered the forest from one end to the other escaping the hunters that had come to the forest periodically.   
  
Under one of the great oaks lay the one destined to inherit the forest. The son of the Great Prince...Bambi.   
  
"Bambi...keep running....don't look back....keep running!" Bambi's mother yelled.  
  
Bambi kept running than he heard a loud shot.  
  
"Ahh!!" Bambi cried out, awakening from his sleep.  
  
He breathed hard, the sweat running down his face. He looked around and saw that he was not in his thicket. Instead he was curled up in the snow, with hugh trees around him.  
  
His mother was no where to be found and he arched his way up ready to call for her.  
  
Than he remembered.  
  
It was the day after his mother had been killed.  
  
The previous night, after he had arrived at the thicket, and found his mother was missing, he went out to look for her. He called out for her but she did not answer. He wandered about until he came upon his father. The Great Prince.  
  
There in the shadows of the woods and the falling snow, he broke the terrible news to him. His mother could not be with him anymore.   
  
His father beckoned him to follow him and he did so.   
  
He vaguely remembered the journey to this place. His thoughts were on his mother and did not seem to care where he and his father were going.   
  
Bambi looked around and his father was no where to be seen in the vast and open forest. There was no one else around him and he did not recognize this part of the forest.  
  
His fear started to take hold of him and he started to panic.   
  
"Daddy!" He yelled out.   
  
There was no answer.  
  
"Daddy...where are you?!" He cried out again.   
  
Still no answer. Only a sound of the birds in the high tree tops fluttering because of his loud voice.   
  
What had happened? Did his father abandon him?  
  
On the other side of the forest, The Great Prince's ears perked up at the sound of his son's voice. He had been grazing the spring grass that had just sprouted a few yards away.   
  
It was only the third time he had heard his son's voice, but he recognized it.  
  
"He's awake." The Great Prince thought to himself.  
  
He instantly started moving at a run, in his son's direction.  
  
When he spotted Bambi, he had wandered a few yards away from his sleeping grounds.  
  
"Here I am." The Great Prince called out.   
  
"Daddy!" Bambi cried out and ran to him.  
  
When Bambi reached him, he buried his face in his chest, his eyes pouring out tears.  
  
"Daddy, Daddy...It's you..It's you...I can't believe it!" Bambi cried.  
  
"It's ok, Bambi.......it's ok. I'm here." The Great Prince whispered into his son's ear.   
  
"I thought you had left me....." Bambi cried.  
  
"Never." The Great Prince said as he warped his head around him.  
  
Bambi felt his father's embrace for the first time. His father had always been a mystery to him until this moment. The air was cold, but his father's presence made him feel warm.  
  
The Great Prince let go of Bambi and got down on his hooves, so that they were at eye level.  
  
"Bambi...I know how your feeling...I'm feeling the same way." The Great Prince said as he licked his son's grief stricken face. Wiping away his son's tears.  
  
"About mom?" Bambi sobbed.  
  
"What happened last night was scary, wasn't it?" The Great Prince asked.  
  
"Yes, daddy." Bambi answered.  
  
"First of all, your mother is doing fine." The Great Prince said with an assuring voice.  
  
"How do you know?" Bambi asked.  
  
"I know that she's not in any pain. She's still here with us, and she wants you to be brave." The Great Prince said.  
  
"Really?" Bambi asked.  
  
"Yes. I want you to be brave as well." The Great Prince said.  
  
"I'll try father." Bambi answered.  
  
"Good. I also want you to know that I love you very much." The Great Prince said.  
  
"Just like mom?" Bambi said in his child voice.  
  
"Certainly. Are you hungry?" The Great Prince asked.  
  
"Sure." Bambi replied.  
  
"Than lets go get something to eat. Stay close to me and don't wander off."   
  
The Great Prince said.  
  
They wandered back to the place where the Great Prince was just grazing.   
  
The Great Prince stood by as he watched his son eat the grass he had found, careful to not let his gaurd down, for there were no birds in this season.  
  
When Bambi had finished he saw that his father was turned in the other direction.  
  
"Daddy, why are you looking at?" Bambi asked.  
  
The Great Prince turned his attention toward his son.  
  
"I'm keeping watch over the land. If there are any intruders I have to know about them." The Great Prince replied.   
  
"Is that why you stay in the woods when the other deer are out on the meadow?" Bambi asked.  
  
"Yes, it's my duty to be the sentinel." The Great Prince answered.  
  
"What's a sentinel?" Bambi asked.  
  
"Son, you remember the time last spring, when I came to get you off the meadow?" The Great Prince replied.  
  
"Yes." Bambi remembered.  
  
"Well, I was ensuring your safety by being on watch for man. That's what a sentinel does. I risk my life every time I do it." The Great Prince explained.   
  
"Oh I see." Bambi realized.  
  
"Let's go for a walk." The Great Prince suggested.  
  
"Alright." Bambi agreed.  
  
The Great Prince set out leading the way and Bambi followed close behind, wondering where his father was taking him. 


End file.
